Mindfulness-based Therapy Versus Relaxation in Prevention of Burnout in Medical Students

Summary

A recent survey exploring mental health in a large cohort of French medical students and young graduates (N = 21.768), observed that 68.2% of participants showed pathologic anxiety. A high level of depressive symptomatology was found in 27.7% of participants, while suicidal ideation was reported by 23.7%. Mindfulness Based Interventions are beneficial for health with a positive impact on mood, anxiety, and well-being. It thus can be hypothesized that such interventions could help to prevent anxio-depressive symptomatology in medical students.

The implementation of prevention programs to promote resilience to stress and empathy among medical students is a priority, included in French National Strategy for Health. Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Interventions in French university must be studied to confirm and strengthen their development. The originality of this project consists in the collaboration of medical schools from different cities and the longitudinal follow-up.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of a mindfulness-based therapy in burnout prevention in comparison to relaxation.

Conditions

• Burnout
• Emotional Disturbances
• Depression

Interventions

OTHER

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

MBSR teaches mindfulness meditation and mindful yoga exercises to develop non-judgmental awareness of moment-to-moment experience. The intervention duration is 8 weeks, with weekly two and half hours sessions. It will be delivered according to the fundamental concepts and specific techniques provided in the MBSR manualized protocol by Kabat-Zinn. The program also includes 30-min daily homework exercises. MBSR teaches four main mindfulness practices: (1) body scan, a process of moving attention through the body; (2) mindful movement, consisting of gentle yoga stretches to develop awareness of body in movement; (3) sitting meditation; and (4) walking meditation. Inquiry and didactic teaching is also a part of MBSR and allows for some detailed exploration of participants' experiences.

OTHER

Relaxation group

control group

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Paris

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Angers

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital of Saint-Etienne

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Tours

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Marseille

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Strasbourg

  collaborator OTHER

• INSERM U1061 Montpellier

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University Hospital, Toulouse

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospices Civils de Lyon

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Montpellier

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-10-04

Primary Completion

2024-03-04

Completion

2024-09-04

Countries

• France

Study Locations